Jeff Elzinga

Miscellaneous Information

Jeff Elzinga, who is also the director of the Malawi Teacher Education Program, first joined Lakeland in 1980. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in creative writing and fiction from Columbia University and a bachelor's in biology from St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.).

He received the Lakeland Alumni Association's Outstanding Teacher Award in 2003 and previously served the college as interim vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college.

Between stints at Lakeland, Elzinga worked as a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C., from 1991-95. He rejoined Lakeland in 1995.

Through Elzinga's experience working overseas with the US government, he also has an interest with US foreign policy as it relates to human rights issues and democratization.